Etymology

breeding

B3R1E1E1D2I1N1G2

Today it means: Propagation of offspring through sexual reproduction. Full definition →

Middle English breedyng
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

breeding · noun1

  1. Middle English · inherited frombreedyng
  2. English todaybreeding

From Middle English breedyng, bredynge (“gestation, incubation, propagation, hatching; engineering, formation, development, growth”), equivalent to breed + -ing.

breeding · adjective, verb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*brōdijaną“to brood; breed”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*brōdijandz
  3. Old English · inherited from*brēdende
  4. Middle English · inherited frombredyng
  5. English todaybreeding

From Middle English bredyng, bredynge, from Old English *brēdende, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood; breed”), equivalent to breed + -ing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.